RoundUp
Term 2 – 1st Half | 2020-2021
Directors' Note
Dear Parents,
My message in this issue of our RoundUp school magazine has come at an opportune time as it coincides with the announcement that secondary school children can all return to a physical school on March 8th.
I’ve spent the last few weeks working from my office at the secondary school site at Parkland and must admit that I’ve found the silence of the estate quite unsettling. The promise we felt when we welcomed back the students in September had faded and, like the teachers (and probably some parents!) I yearned for the day when laughter, the thud of foot against football and the occasional ‘Good morning Mr Wells’ would greet my walks around the grounds. We have our half term break now and, personally, I think it’s timely in providing a ‘break’ between online learning and being back in the classroom.
In some ways it feels like a new beginning, as if we’ve reset to September and I hope that, epidemiological picture and vaccines willing, that this will be the last school closure and the last time we are forced to teach and learn online.
That said, this is a good opportunity for me to thank the teachers and those who support them amongst the administrative staff for, once again, rising to the challenge of online teaching and providing our students with the best possible alternative to little or no education at all which has been the sorry story for many of Europe’s school children.
Those who watch the UK news will be staggered at the amount of money that the government is committing to spending to help children catch up on missed months of learning where there was no alternative to classroom teaching. We all accept that teaching students across Wi-Fi networks and the internet is no substitute for being there in person but, from what I’ve seen in reports that have been issued and hearing anecdotes from parents, students and teachers, many have thrived in this period.
I also believe that this is the opportunity for us as a school to sympathise with our exam year students. For some, my daughter included, this marks the second year when exams haven’t taken place and where the examining boards have been found lacking in terms of timely decision making over how grades would be awarded. Even without the uncertainty, exam years are stressful enough and, whilst the students have had the benefit of our team’s predictions on how grades may be decided, it wasn’t until yesterday that the process was finally announced. For this reason, I want to assure all of the exam students that you will have an equal opportunity for success in the awarding of your grades to that you would have had should the examinations have taken place. You can be assured that, as long as you have worked to the best of your ability, you will gain the grades you deserve and can progress confidently to A levels or your choice of university.
For now, I wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you all on the 8th March.
Principal's Message
It’s well known that if you want your child to be educated in a school that really cares for them as an individual but as part of a wider nurturing community then TLC Private School is the right choice. It’s universally acknowledged that children do well at school in an environment where they feel safe, comfortable and happy with their teachers and their peers. At TLC, we’ve also committed that we won’t simply accept that children are likely to learn well in a school they love but will strive to build on the confidence that the environment gives them to enable them to not simply succeed, but to excel.
This bold ambition was never going to be instant; after all, as the famous saying goes ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, but, despite the disruption brought about by the Covid restrictions, we can clearly see where our pupils are excelling and it’s through carefully considered challenge, to individual students and cohorts, that this is taking place.
I’ve had the opportunity this term to see our pupils’ progress from both sides of the lens; as a teacher identifying strengths in a student and encouraging them to take on challenges that will enable them to break through to the next level and build a foundation for future learning but also as an observer in lessons from Year 2 up to Year 13 where students have astounded me with not only their knowledge but also their understanding of what they’ve learned.
It’s rare that a week goes by without a fresh example of just what our students are capable of. One example I like to use is Year 2 which had been studying King Richard III. I had been asked to attend the lesson (as a history teacher) to tell them what I knew of the king, only to be completely outsmarted by children who were barely seven years old. They could tell me who he was, where his body had been found, why it was there and what he was known for (they also pointed out that there’d been a demolition job done on his reputation that was not to be trusted). They knew he was rumoured to have had a deformity, had been vilified by Shakespeare and that maybe he wasn’t that bad after all. On top of that, one girl confidently told me she’d found the work very hard but had enjoyed finding out as much as she could about the king but still wasn’t sure about whether he was good or bad.
Higher up the school, I’ve seen students in my maths class demand more challenging work and, because of their success in overcoming it, gain very high marks in assessments. None of them has given up, and it’s this determination to succeed that has carried them through to success.
We now have students who are still only 13 years old, planning the remainder of their academic careers, wondering which universities to attend and with a career goal already mapped out. At their age, I was still collecting football cards and sticking parts of model aircraft together!
What this shows me is how well we can develop our students when we know them well, know their strengths and their needs, what fires them up and what scares them. This takes me back to my opening lines about the ethos of the school. That which is firmly entrenched in our school gives our students the springboard to great success and, more and more, they are showing us they’re willing to take up the challenge.
David Lewis | Principal
The fog of uncertainty is beginning to lift with the announcement yesterday that secondary students would return to school after the mid-term break and the outcome of the Department for Education and Ofqual’s consultation on how grades will be awarded to examination students this summer was announced.
During this pandemic the media, quite rightly, has highlighted the tremendous work of frontline workers but I’d like to take a moment to commend our students, teachers and parents who have demonstrated great resilience and adaptability this year. We recognise that some students have struggled to remain motivated; working from home, overcoming distractions and intermittent technology and internet issues, as well as experiencing feelings of isolation. Whilst for others, the disruption to their learning has been minimal. For some students (and adults) dealing with uncertainty and change can be destabilising. In speaking with some of our examination students today, I advised them that whilst events will occur in their lives that they have no control over, they do have a choice as to how they respond to them and that knowledge can be empowering, enabling us to better deal with adversity. If your teenager is struggling with anxiety at this time as a result of all the uncertainty, a free ‘on demand’ online course for parents and carers; ‘Anxiety: Supporting Teens to Support Themselves’ can be accessed through Creative Education (available free until 28th February).
Remaining with the theme of adaptability, I’m often impressed by how easily younger children can adapt to new situations. Due to the restrictions that have prevented Miss Mitchell, our year 5 teacher, being able to cross the border into southern Cyprus, the students have adapted admirably to being taught by Miss Mitchell appearing on the big screen whilst supported in class by Miss Sam and other teachers throughout the week. They are working very hard for Miss Mitchell and we hope it won’t be long before those restrictions are lifted to allow her to join us.
A new maths scheme (Maths Progress) was introduced into Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9) this academic year and it is already having a positive impact in terms of pupil attainment and enjoyment of mathematics. With Ms Kristia now on maternity leave, we look forward to welcoming Mr Stefanou to the mathematics department, taking over from Mr Lewis from 8 March. We also welcome back Ms Asima who returns from her maternity leave.
Last week I enjoyed spending time supporting Ms Toni with our Early Years students, observing them participating enthusiastically in their carousel of activities. I was impressed by their developing skills of independence, ability to tell me their group targets and discuss how they could improve their work when examining their letter formation.
After the mid-term break, one of the areas we want to focus on in Primary is reading; encouraging a love of books and developing reading skills. Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. We’ll be issuing guidance on how you can help your child at home and sending out details of activities to support World Book Day on 23rd April.
This week, in our PSHE lessons, our Year 9 students have received an introductory session on option choices. They have been advised to begin by reflecting upon subjects they enjoy, those they are good at and what they might like to do in the future. To support their decision-making process they have been recommended to refer to their most recent school report, talk with teachers and family members and review the results of a Cognitive Ability Test (CAT4) that will be undertaken upon their return to school. They have also been encouraged to view the long term plans for Key Stage 4 subjects to review the current subjects being offered and the topics that are taught over the two-year period. Further details of the options process and the range of subjects being offered will be sent to parents after half-term.
A group of Sixth Form students had the opportunity to talk with a former TLC student (Milena Damjanovic) who is in her final year studying Economics at Coventry University. They asked insightful questions relating to the process of choosing a course and university, how the teaching/learning experience differs to Sixth Form and opportunities to get involved in wider university life.
Next week, students who undertook International AS and A-Level examinations in January, as well as those who completed the Extended Project Qualification, will receive their results and I look forward to seeing the outcome of their hard work.
Catherine Lewis | Head of Teaching and Learning
I would like to thank our students, our parents and our staff for their amazing ability to adapt during this distance learning period. We have managed to keep the core elements of our school ethos strong and ever growing with the students, staff and parents, displaying kindness, patience, support, resilience and hard work.
Teachers have been working hard to ensure that the students are experiencing a variety of online and off line lessons to keep our students motivated and to develop their skills as independent learners.
Many things during distance learning impact on a child’s ability to learn and what has become very evident to me over this half term is how the TLC family has come together to break down these barriers to learning and to focus on the happiness and well-being of our students so that they can access the curriculum and make good progress.
I am looking forward to us all having a physical presence at school so that our community can socially interact again and we can continue to develop our personal goals of Thoughtfulness, Morality, Enquiry, Adaptability, Cooperation, Communication, Honesty, Respect, Encouragement, Challenge, Responsibility, Tolerance, Friendship and Independence.
I hope you are able to have a lovely rest over half term and have quality time with your family.
Tracey Hewitt | Head of Secondary
I cannot believe that the first half of the term has already come to an end. Our festive season was laced with happy faces and cheerful spirits that carried us through the lockdown period. Our team of primary teachers was very apprehensive at how students would respond to another period of the Continuous Learning Programmme.
Throughout the four weeks our pupils, yet again, proved how adaptable and resilient they are, taking all the changes they have faced in their stride. Staff found many creative ways to keep pupils engaged in their online learning with dress up days, video presentations, science experiments and innovative crafts using materials from home.
Many parents praised our team for their hard work and dedication to make the online learning experience successful once again.
Greeting children on return to school earlier this month, was just as exciting for the teachers as it was for our students. We were so pleased to see our learners entering school with a big smile on their face, happy to see their friends and teachers.
In our three weeks back to physical teaching, I am pleased to see that our pupils have settle back into the school routine, hearing the echo of laughter and learning ringing through the school corridors. Many creative topic-based crafts have been completed, uplifting the school display boards with new presentations that pupils are proud to share with others.
Our aspiring young scientists were challenged by becoming pathologists dissecting a heart. From the feedback received from the year 6 class it was evident that seeing an actual heart, as opposed to a scientific diagram, left a lasting impression that intrigued our students and even some teachers!
Mrs. Outram’s melodic music lessons vibrated through studio and reception areas, bringing life back to our hallways. It is wonderful to experience our school buzzing once again.
Seeing the need for more play and social interaction, our team decided to end this half term in a special way. The Fun Day, filled with team building activities, was the highlight of our return and liked by many.
I hope all students, parents and teachers have a restful break and I am looking forward to another term with some exciting and educational events booked into our calendar.
Miranda Matthee | Head of Primary
It has been another unique half term in Early Years. We were very privileged that, at the beginning of this term, when Cyprus sadly went back into lockdown, the Ministry deemed that Nurseries were permitted to stay open. So when the rest of the school went back to online learning, our Early Years department stayed open. The children were very excited to be the only class in school and I am delighted to say that during this period we had 100% attendance.
We were also very happy to announce the reopening of our Kindergarten this term. This enables us to even better differentiate to the needs of the children and to give much more individual attention to each child.
The children are still joining together for music lessons, PE, Greek and some team building and play activities and we are remaining a close knit Early Years family.
Toni Hayden | Head of Early Years
TLC Fun Day
Our students enjoyed taking part in many action packed fun challenges today. Students worked in teams with their classmates to complete a fun obstacle course with Ms Maria, danced #Jerusalema with Ms Clare Hurrell and enjoyed an energetic combination of music and ball games with Ms Outram.
The children were very happy to have fun in the sunshine and had a great time being outdoors. Thank you so much to the teachers and staff who worked so hard towards creating such a fantastic day.
Special thanks to Ms Miranda, Ms Maria Georgiou, Ms Clare Hurrell and Ms Outram.
International Music Competition
Congratulations Mykola and Nika Botsyura in Year 6 who took first and second place in the International Music Online Competition in Latvia in December 2020! We are very proud of you.
Mykola Botsyura | Y6
Performing on the Piano – Passacaglia by Handel Halvorsen
Nika Olha Botsyura | Y6
Performing on the Piano – Last Dance by Timothy Brown
Early Years - Animals
This half term our Early Years topics have all revolved around animals.
Reception class looked at Pets. We learnt about the types of animals that people have as pets and how to care for them. Some of the children brought their own pets into school and told the class what they do to take care of them. We also thought about imaginary pets and what pet we would like to have if we could have any animal at all. Kindergarten class learnt about all different types of animals, farm, zoo, jungle and water animals, and looked at their habitats.
Both classes looked at the story books ‘Dear Zoo’ and ‘The Rainbow Fish’ and we painted our own beautiful rainbow fish and all wrote letters to the zoo to ask them to send us a pet.
Ms Toni
Year 1 - The Great Fire of London
The Year 1 students were gripped by this significant historic event from the 17th Century! They travelled back in time and explored how life was in London in 1666. The studied fire-safety from the past and compared it with today. Students learnt about the buildings of this period and designed their own houses after the Great Fire. In music, students practised singing songs of that time and in art they created lovely pieces of work resembling the Great Fire of London.
Ms Miranda
Year 1 / 2 - Let's Sculpt
This term Year 1/2 have been learning about different sculptors and types of sculpture. We studied Michelle Reader, Brendan Jamieson and Barbara Hepworth. We looked at how they all use different methods and materials in their work to produce different effects. Now we are back in school, we are using recycled materials to make Hepworth inspired abstract sculptures of people. Here we are planning and designing our models and some of our finished pieces.
Ms Louise
Year 2 - Glad To Be Back!
We are very happy to be back in school after four weeks of online schooling! Everyone did really well during that time though, and I am extremely proud of all the students – well done Year 2! This half term we have looked at time, shape and fractions in Maths, and instructions, sentence types and fairy tales in English. The children have also really enjoyed reading The Bog Baby story, and wrote some fantastic detailed descriptions of their own bog babies, and designed or drew them in Art. In Science we have talked about materials, and designed our own houses and decided if the materials we chose were suitable or not, and why.
Ms Emma
Year 3 - Light & Shadow
The children in Year 3 have been developing their knowledge and understanding of light and how light travels. They have thought carefully about the ways that we can protect ourselves against the sun’s harmful rays. In the classroom, the children have been investigating materials to determine if they are opaque, translucent or transparent. We have also investigated how shadows are made and how to increase the size of our shadows.
Mr Lines
Year 3 - Rain Sticks with Ms Outram
This term, Year 3 students have been learning about rain forests in Geography with Mr Lines. The topic presented a great opportunity to incorporate music. In a listening activity, students were able to identify a variety of natural sounds from the rain forest. They also made their own rain sticks! The children used every day materials such as empty Pringle tubes and cardboard tubes, filled them uncooked rice, pasta and any other small objects they could find. They then decorated the outside with paper, stickers, fabrics and feathers. Then for the fun part, they got to play their newly made instruments!
The children also created their own Rain Forest sounds using their rain sticks and the instruments at school.
More about Rain Sticks
Rain sticks are typically made from any of several species of cactus. The hollow cacti are dried in the sun and pebbles or other small objects are placed inside, after which the ends are sealed. A sound like falling water is made when the rain stick has its direction changed to a vertical position. The rain stick is believed to have been played in the belief it could bring about rainstorms.
Year 3 and Mrs Outram send their apologies for any rainstorms which may occur in your homes from this activity!
Year 4 - The Swinging Sixties
This term, Year 4 have been studying the history of Leisure and Entertainment over the decades. Our recent lessons have focused on the 1960s and students have been learning all about fashion, food and pop culture in this iconic decade.
The children have designed their own Sixties themed party invitations taking into consideration: 60’s themed clothes, party food and the style of music one would have danced the night away to.
Hit play to see our students enjoying their own ‘Swinging Sixties’ socially distanced disco!
Mr Richards
Year 5 - Resilience
Year 5 are glad to be back in the classroom after the lockdown period and have happily settled back into the school routine and enjoyed catching up with their friends.
The new term has introduced a variety of new topics including the Aztecs for History. Already the class have learnt about the founding myth of the Aztecs settling in Mexico, created cartoon strips of their own versions of a myth and discovered how to use basic words from the Nahuatl language. Most recently the students have been constructing Aztec pyramids with pasta.
In English, the students have enjoyed entering Camp Green Lake alongside Stanley Yelnats while exploring our class reader ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar and have been developing their appreciation of character and extended vocabulary. We’ve covered area, long multiplication and short division in Maths and they have made a great start on Fractions. Geography has included learning how to read maps using Google Earth, atlases, deciphering symbols, understanding grid references and planning routes. In Art, we have been studying various artists from North America, learning new forms and techniques from portraiture to photography. They have shown a level of resilience most adults would envy and it has been amazing to witness their adaptability and positive attitude. Thank you for making me feel so welcome at TLC and I look forward to working with you all over the next few months.
Ms Jennie & Ms Sam
Science has been a very hands-on experience with lots of experiments for testing the different properties of materials. The class has been testing what makes a good conductor or insulator as well as investigating which materials have high or low resistance, deciding which materials (eg. salt, sugar, sand, gravy granules etc.) are soluble or insoluble in water, looking at how temperature affects dissolving sugar and understanding how to separate materials using different methods. There will be many more exciting experiments to look forward to in the coming weeks for our young scientists.
Year 6 - Science
February is Heart Month the perfect opportunity to learn about the science of our hearts! The Year 6 class have been investigating how to keep their bodies healthy. We have learnt all about nutrition and the importance of exercise. We have explored how water and nutrients are transported in the circulatory system and recognised the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on how their bodies function, creating our own eating plans during online school.
We also learnt about the different components of the heart and blood: red blood cells carry oxygen, white blood cells fight infection, platelets help to prevent bleeding, and that plasma is the medium in which these components are suspended.
Students built a functioning heart model out of plastic bottles, The science lab was filled with excitement when pupils took their investigation even further by dissecting a heart with the help of Ms. Kashouli.
Ms Evie
Year 6 English
Witches. War. Power. Murder.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth was our literature topic this term.
Students enjoyed reading this classic tragedy about murder and betrayal.
We started off the spring term with a study of Shakespeare’s life and times. Students wrote newspaper articles on winning the battle against the rebels.
As Shakespeare said; ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’
Ms Evie
Art with Miss Debbie
Year 1
February 14th is celebrated as St Valentine’s Day and our primary pupils wanted to make cards for their friends and family to show how much they cared for them. Year 1 had a lot of fun making Valentines cards for their loved ones using a variety of art media.
Year 3/4
Students in Year 3/4 created paintings that mirrored designs from the indigenous Australian people’s Dreaming rituals. Incorporating images of the land and its animals, they constructed their pictures and later applied the Aborigine symbols and dots that are so characteristic of these ancient traditional artworks.
Valentines Cards
Year 3/4 had fun making Valentine’s cards, they used materials such as pasta and lentil to create borders with painted imagery in the middle. The finished product was neatly glued onto cardboard to present to their loved ones.
Year 7 - Science Fiction Stories
The Years 7s have been learning about Science Fiction. Here’s two wonderful stories from Evelyn and Aili.
My Sci-Fi Story
When I arrived at school on Monday morning, what I saw will forever be imprinted on my mind…
Over the weekend, a gargantuan metal spacecraft had taken up residence in our school grounds.
Everyone entered through the normal gate all chattering excitedly, little did they know that a creature, as foul as a rotten egg, was about to emerge from this strange spaceship. We got to this piece of metal and everyone stopped dead in their tracks and gazed, horrified, at the scene in front of them.
It was at that moment that something unraveled through a small opening on the side of the aircraft. It looked like a tentacle yet had the appearance of smoke. The tentacle resembled a worm trying to escape the strong clutches of a crab’s pincers. Then the body emerged. It also had a smoky appearance but it did not seem real. Although the smoky texture was there, it was also rather like a glassy cover. Underneath, there were many pink, yellow and wrinkly objects. Were they… organs?
Then the other tentacle-like leg emerged wriggling around, as if objecting to move. But then, the head appeared. It looked nothing like a head, there were no eyes, no nose, no ears. There was merely a hanging hood that had the same smoky appearance. Although the creature had tentacle-like legs, it did not seem to use them. It seemed to be… but it couldn’t…could it be…. floating?
There was a long, rattling breath that sounded rather raspy. Everyone had gone quiet. Suddenly, all the air was sucked from my body. I couldn’t breathe, my eyes felt like they were being pushed and shoved into the back of skull. My ears seemed to be clutching on for dear life. I felt like I would never live again. I felt my soul…disintegrate. A scabbed hand reached out and grabbed the front of my blazer. Veronika was stood beside me and I could feel her shaking against my arm then, the pressure had taken over me, I collapsed.
I awoke to find myself, not in the grounds but in a deserted library. The creature was still holding on to the front of me. Its breath was cold against my skin, and had the putrid smell of death and blood. I looked to my left and saw Miss. Valentina, as white as snow with blood trickling down her head. I panicked. Was there anyone that could stop these horrid monsters?
Evelyn Scott Year 7L
My Sci-Fi Story
I think everyone expected to die then and there, but we did not, instead we all experienced something unlike anything we could have imagined.
On Monday morning, I was just walking to my locker to get my books when a creature, somewhat colourful emerged from behind the building. The first thing I noticed was its long snake-like legs slithering towards me. They were like tentacles, the sort an octopus might have but they were not octopus legs. They were snakes, and those snakes I shall never forget. There were all the colours of the rainbow; there were red ones and orange ones, every colour imaginable. The creature was fast, so fast in fact; it was like something you would see in a movie or film, something out of a nightmare. This nightmare was unlike any other nightmare for this was not something any mind could think of, this creature was bloodcurdling, sending chills up my spine and making the hairs on my arms stand up. I wanted to scream but my mouth made no sound, I wanted to run but my legs refused to move. I was paralysed, trapped in my worst nightmare…
The creature zoomed towards me at lightning speed and finally I forced myself to run, I sprinted down the hill at what seemed like a rapid speed to where my class was happily walking into the classroom with Miss V inside already. I was now slowing down to my regular pace but I was not giving up. The classroom door was closed shut and I did not want to risk pushing our heavy door open for my time seemed nearly up. I ran into the small building and screamed, Miss V, thinking quickly must’ve jumped up from her chair because I heard that deafening screech that the chairs make when you move them or get up too quickly. I screamed again, hoping for help and then ran up the stairs to the bathrooms and slammed the door. I fumbled with the lock in hopes that it would hold the creature off for some time.
I then decided in my mind what must have been the fastest, most outrageous decision I will ever make. I jumped up onto the closed toilet seat and opened the window. I struggled for what seemed like forever until I got it open, but when I did, I felt a flood of relief.
My relief only lasted for a few seconds because just when I was about to climb out the strange creature busted the door down and gave me a grin. A grin that I could never forget…
The creature jumped in the air and spun round and round. When she landed again, there was a giant chessboard in the room, the bathroom walls had broken and the door that had been busted was now so broken that it seemed it was no longer there. The creature was still grinning as it said to me, “Let’s play a game…” In a scratchy, unnerving voice. I shivered, hoping, wishing it were all a dream so I could wake up and go back to my regular life but my body refused to wake up from this dreadful nightmare, if it was even a nightmare.
The creature grumbled and mumbled something indistinctly but I was too scared to ask what it had said. It got up slowly, the snakes slithering contentedly across the floor, then, the creature slithered away and I heard a deafening scream coming from the classroom, the creature then slithered back up the stairs but one of the snakes was tightly wrapped around what looked like… My class? I saw Evelyn, Itay, Danylo, Veronika and a bunch more of them, there were quite a few from the other year 7 class too. Then the snake’s eyes began to glow, they then got so bright I was blinded for what seemed like hours when in reality it had just been a few seconds. When the light dimmed, I saw that each of the class, teachers and all, had been turned into… Chess pieces?
My mouth opened wide in surprise and my eyes must have widened because I felt an eyelash fall into my eye. I yelped in pain and started immediately worriedly clutching my eye, it seemed like such a silly thing to scream about when in front of me was a monster, probably getting hungrier by the second and the worst part was… I did not know what it likes to eat…
I did the trick my mum always taught me, to wipe my eye in a specific direction to get the eyelash out, and when I did and my vision was back to normal, I focused on the chessboard. Then on my class. It was obvious what was about to happen next. I was going to have to play against this great big grouch of a creature. But what if I lost? I can never win chess games; I seem to really suck at them. This reminded me of Harry Potter, even though I barely read that series.
The creature, without saying a word, placed all my friends, all my class, my teachers, onto the chessboard. I was playing as black even though I would prefer to play as white, like I always do. My heart started pounding in my chest and my head started spinning. I knew I had to play though. My life could be in danger along with the whole school if I did not play. I looked at the creature and it picked up the first piece, it moved it along and as I heard the satisfying sound of the piece clanking against the wood, I managed to focus and get into the game. I felt the weight on my shoulders but without realising, I moved my pieces correctly and somehow I got a tie against the creature. I did not know what that meant but it was better than losing… Right?
All of a sudden, the chess pieces began to glow and then one by one they turned back into my classmates and teachers. I was overjoyed but not for long, the creature began to frown, then the snakes began to slither towards me…
“Good game,” The snakes growled happily enough,
“Good game…?” I said unsure of what to say.
Then, the creature twirled around and the snakes one by one disappeared. Then it was gone. All evidence of the catastrophe disappeared with a blink of my eye and the bathroom was now back to its original state. I do not know if the class remembers the game of chess or if it even happened but I got a tie and I do NOT want to know what would happen if I had lost.
By Aili Bielicki
Year 7 & 8 - Bringing History to Life Through Drama
Despite the potential restrictions of studying Drama online, Years 7 and 8 have been involved in a very exciting project this half-term. With the support of Mr Griffiths, they have been further exploring their History curriculum by writing scripts set in different historical periods. The Year 7s have been bringing the Medieval Era to life, while the Year 8s have been writing scripts based on The Gunpowder Plot. This has provided a wonderful opportunity for our students to delve deeply into a particular era in history and it has been a pleasure to watch, as they have researched details to make their scripts an authentic representation of life at that time. Students then went one step further and performed their scripts using Teams, which was great fun and a wonderful end to the half term.
Ms Ally
Year 8 - Exploring Pinhole Cameras
In Science this term we explored Pinhole Cameras. Pinhole Cameras are the simplest kind of camera as they do not have a lens. To take a picture, it just makes use of a tiny opening (pinhole sized) to focus all light rays within the smallest possible area to obtain an image, as clearly as possible. This is the simple image formed using a pinhole camera.
Students were tasked to create their own camera using foil and black sugar paper, tracing paper, sticky tape, toilet roll and candles to create their camera.
They produced very impressive work! Have a look.
Ms Elena
Year 8 Drama
Year 9 - Science Investigations
Year 8 Drama
Students have been studying Chemistry this term. To keep them motivated they have been doing some ‘Kitchen Chemistry’ at home during our distance learning lessons.
The content of the lessons is part of the National Curriculum and cover the objectives for Chemical Reactions, Rusting and Dissolving. The students have been learning how to plan and carry out scientific investigations to include an introduction by independently researching a topic, developing a hypothesis, deciding the equipment needed and devising a method, considering health and safety aspects, collecting results, graphing, formulating a conclusion and writing their evaluation.
Art with Ms Zoe
Year 7 - Art of Gold
The students in Year 7 have been learning about the Seven Elements of Art and were inspired by artist Keith Harding’s work when working with shape and outline before creating a 3D form in kitchen foil.
Ms Zoe
Year 8 - Optical drawings
Students in Year 8 have been studying the illusion of space and depth in Art.
They created a series of optical drawings.
Year 9 & 10 - Portraiture Drawings
Year 10 - IGCSE Student Artwork
IGCSE student artwork based on the theme of ‘Cellular’, including observational drawings in pencil, pen and ink, photographs of oil and water experiments, artist research plus embroidery and appliqué.
Portraiture By Annie Lin
Annie Lin’s research, recording and exploration of ideas for a Year 12 Art project was based on the theme of ‘Identity’. Investigative work includes links to artist Saul Steinburg, reviewing life drawing and portraiture skills plus photography editing.
Year 8 & 9 - Greek with Ms Marianna
Nature
Greek Natives have studied the topic of keeping our planet and nature safe for the last term and produced wonderful work.
Η οικολογία μας και ο πλανήτης μας είναι η οικογένειά μας! Γιατί πρέπει να διατηρήσουμε τον πλανήτη μας καθαρό; Εάν διατηρήσουμε τον πλανήτη μας καθαρό, θα έχουμε ένα καλύτερο περιβάλλον και οι άνθρωποι θα έχουν ένα καλύτερο μέλλον. Ωστόσο, εάν συνεχίσουμε να χρησιμοποιούμε όλο και περισσότερο πλαστικό, ο πλανήτης μας θα πεθάνει σύντομα! Ανακυκλώστε και επαναχρησιμοποιήστε σακούλες και σκουπίδια! Βοηθήστε τον
πλανήτη μας!
Varvara Fomicheva Year 9
Directions
In Greek, one of the many weekly topics we have been learning about is directions – how to get from one place to another.
Δίπλα (next to), αριστερά (left), δεξιά (right), ευθεία (forward), πίσω (behind) and ανάμεσα (between), were some of the main words of the topic vocabulary of our online lessons.
Lara MacIntyre Year 9
Fokion Dialetis Year 8
Year 8 & 9 - Greek
Music Through the Decades
This term Year 9 have been studying the key features of popular music through the decades starting with the slave trade and its influence on jazz right through Elvis, The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Moby and David Guetta! Quite an eclectic mix! Pupils were then given the chance to choose their favourite task and make it into a full song. Here is an example by Andrew Anderton – we hope you enjoy it!
Ms Clare
English - Poetry and Relationships with Ms Valentina
Mothers Hug
Just like my guardian angel you always protect me
Thanks to you I always aim for the stars since I know you will always catch me
As if I’m a boat and you are the captain you always lead me to the right direction
The moments where I don’t know where I belong you always make me feel at home
When I’m at my saddest times your smile gives me hope
Your shoulder is one I can always cry on
When I feel hated your hug fills my body with love
When I feel like I have no one to talk to you are always there for me
Even though we have our quarrels
They only strengthen our bond.
And when it seems you don’t understand me
At the end of the day
You always forgive me and give me your special mothers hug
By Gianmatteo Ricci-David
Every Day
Every day I miss the feeling of saying good bye and hello to you.
Every day I miss seeing you come to school.
Every day I feel more and more lonely without you here.
Every day my memories of you trail narrower.
Every day I think you’re here when I’m just imagining it.
Every day you’re not here is a day I feel I’m not here.
Every day without you is a day worth lying in on a Monday morning.
Every day I think you are coming back yet you are gone forever.
Every day you were here I would take your being for granted, but know I want you back now you’re not here.
Every day I lie to myself that you are here when you’re not.
Every day I hallucinate you jumping out and scaring me, but now the only scary thing is the feeling you’re gone.
Every day I don’t see you with my eyes, I see you with my mind.
Every day you don’t reply to my text messages, I don’t stop sending them.
Every day I blame myself for your loss, yet no one is to blame.
Every day I’m told you’re gone are days I insist you’re coming back.
Every day you’re gone, I feel I’m not whole.
Every day I wish you’d come back.
Every day I dream of you are days I try my best just to believe those dreams are true.
Every day I miss your warm smile.
Every day I miss you…
By Liam O’Reilly Year 9T
Studying Poetry with Ms Ally
This half term in Year 9 English with Ms Ally, we have been studying poetic techniques by analysing the work of a wide variety of poets and poems. Students have also begun to express their observations about how poets create meaning, using an academic writing style. It has been a very exciting time in our learning to see how individual students respond differently to each poet or poem. It has also been wonderful to watch as the students’ preconceptions of what poetry is have been challenged.
During online learning with Miss Ally, we have been learning many new and exciting things like poetry and sound devices. Before, I never knew the majority of them or what they meant, it was a new thing for me, at first it seemed hard, but I have found it extremely easy, especially when you have a great teacher like ours. I now have come to understand poetry and like it. We have learned about many poets and my favourite was Charles Bukowski. The reason being is he is very realistic and very understanding. Also, after researching about him, I felt unbelievably bad for him. One of my favourite poems by him is ‘A Smile to Remember’. I love this poem, it is so powerful and should not be realistic, but it feels as if it is. Another poet I like is Jimmy Santiago Baca, he is very mature in his writing and there are so many ways that you can read it.
At first, I hated poetry and many people at my age will, until you come to understand it. I remember coming into class and hearing that we are going to be studying poetry and I sighed. But you know what, I wish I had immediately got stuck into it, because now I love poetry. You do not know what you are going to read or watch about, which is the exciting part. Then you have the actual poems; some are dark and sad but with some, you will get this sweet and refreshing poem that brightens up your day.
There is one poem that I cannot stop listening to, it is called ‘A Smile to Remember’. Every time I listen to it, it is a different experience; sad, angry, warming and many other thoughts and feelings. Also, the way I thought about poets and the way people like me think; is that poets are old people sitting around with nothing better to do, so they go and make these rubbish poems with their old, crinkled hands. But now, since I have looked into it more, some poets write to relax and almost zone themselves away from life. For example, look at my favourite poet, Charles Bukowski. He was a drunk, he did drugs, he was in and out of prison; but then he wrote these poems, such beautiful poems that words cannot even describe them. Well, at least that is how I feel. If I could meet him, I would love it, but unfortunately that is impossible, which is incredibly sad as I have only just discovered him.
It is so important to study poems, as they are so strong and eye opening for people who are going down the wrong path or wrong direction. They may seem like a few words on a page, well they are, but those few words could change someone’s whole life. That is why poetry is so important and needed, especially in our generation. What we have learned so far is that every poet is different and they need to be. We have learned how to write our own poems; we have learned the sound devices and the structures of poems. One of the main things I think we have learned is that we all have our thoughts and predictions of what a poem should be, but this is very wrong. A poem makes itself a poem by being different. If you put all the poems in the world in a line, not one would be the same, and if it were, it is not a true poem or a true poet. You should not have expectations of what a poem should be, you should read it through and see how it reflects who you are.
By Jack Marsland Year 9
This half term in English, we have been studying poetry. This includes sound devices, different types of poems, and many poets. There are many different types of poems, so to analyse a poem is very difficult, it takes real skill, so I was a little worried I was going to struggle. If I am honest, when I started poetry with Ms. Ally I thought it was going to be the dullest subject that I had studied. I was wrong, very wrong, actually poetry is anything but dull if executed properly. Poetry is a great way to express yourself and comforts you when you feel low.
A lot of poets are stereotypically old men that are alone and rich, or middle class white men writing about their troubles. Other stereotypical ideas are that poems have to rhyme. This is false, poetry can be anything really, just a paragraph (stanza) about how you feel can be a poem. Poetry can have rhyme and it can have a rhythm, but it is not compulsory. There are no boundaries to poetry!
So what does poetry actually mean? Many poets themselves struggle to define poetry. No one really knows the direct meaning of poetry. It comes from the Greek word poiesis, which means to create. In my opinion, poetry shouldn’t be defined, I think it is something that we can’t explain just like our subconscious. Poetry is natural in every human because every human has emotions and feelings. All of this is why poetry is so important to study, it is a part of all of us!
Spyro Mavromichalos Year 9
Many people have different opinions regarding studying poetry. Some individuals believe that doing it is a waste of time. However, others think that poetry is invaluable and should be known by everyone. In this composition, l am going to describe my view about this discursive topic.
To begin with, we have been studying sound effects, for example euphony and cacophony. Both of them are slightly different because of the sound that they create, but equally important in writing poetry. Euphony is a sound device which is musically pleasant to the ear. Moreover, euphony is commonly used by many poets, as it helps to bring harmony to writing. However, cacophony is the complete opposite, it creates a jarring, jangling, juxtaposition of words that can be something difficult to pronounce. In addition, we have been studying different poets such as William Blake, Brian Pattern, Lord Byron, Robert Frost and William Butler Yeats. Those individuals are unforgettably talented, and each have their own styles of composing. My favourite poems that we have learned about are ‘She Walks in Beauty’ by Lord Byron, ‘There are Black’ by Jimmy Santiago Baca and ‘Her ghost’ by Brian Pattern. Firstly, ‘She Walks in Beauty’ is an unforgettable masterpiece that elicits all the beauty of euphony and graceful and elegant language. ‘Her ghost’ is a powerful poem that describes deep feelings about unfortunate love.
‘There are Black’ is one of the darkest poems l have ever read, however it promotes only bright feelings when you realize how lucky you are to be a free human! Many people have stereotypical ideas regarding the appearance and character of poets. A lot of individuals believe that poets are usually male who look very old, are lonely, are not serious, nor intelligent. People never consider them to be hard working, as they believe that the only way they create a masterpiece is simply because they are lucky. However, poets are some of the most clever people in the world, because only a genius can know how to promote specific feelings in a reader’s heart. Talent does not need to match with appearance, some young people can be talented and woman are able to write beautiful compositions too!
To be honest, l loved poetry, but l never knew how hard it can be to make the reader feel what you want! In the past, l thought that the only reason why some poems sound amazing is simply by chance, but l was wrong. Now l know that poetry is one of the most magnificent, interactive and debatable topics in the world! The aspect that l love most about studying poetry is that there is no right or wrong view about poems; each person feels differently and l find this invaluable! To conclude, poetry is a language of feelings that helps to express thoughts of the heart!
Agnia Vergiles Year 9
This term, we have been studying about how poetry is formed, how to make it more interesting, and how many different styles of poems there are in the world. For example: sibilance, assonance, consonance, euphony, cacophony and others, are sound devices that can help you to make a poem, a poem. We have studied many different poets like: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Lord Byron (George Gordon), William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost and William Blake. All of these people are magnificent poets and their poems contain a lot of sense and most of them were created from their real life. The poem, that I like the most is ‘She Walks in Beauty’ by Lord Byron. It hooked me by its elegance, lightness and mysteriousness. The way he describes his love, it is incredible!
Most people think that poets were created just to make poems about anything, for example, poems for children which do not have any deep meaning, but that is not true. Most famous poets were created from their own life experiences, and instead of just telling us their story, some poets denounce it to us by hundreds of assonance, consonance, rhythms and sibilance. Some poets however, tell the meaning straight to you, without any riddles. Poetry is another type of communication, poets use poetry to describe and tell their thoughts to you, so you can dive into their emotions, and take their place.
Poetry, it is not just beautiful language, it is a type of communication with which poets and everyday people can describe their thoughts. Usually, many different, difficult and gorgeous words are used in poetry, so, in studying poetry you can expand your vocabulary and your style of talking, you can broaden your horizons. As a result of this time while I have been studying poetry, I now understand a lot of things. Now I know that to make a poem a poem, we need to use many different sound devices. Now, I know how to create a paragraph to describe some sound devices and what an author wanted to tell us through that sentence or word. Of course, now I like poetry much more, because now I know how was it created. For certain, I can now analyze and understand it’s meaning much better than I could three weeks ago.
Arsen Zaruba Year 9
his half term, we have been studying Poetry. Here are some things we have been learning in poetry: Haiku, sound devices and analyzing poems. My favorite poem so far is ‘A Wonderful Bird is a Pelican’ ” Written by Dixon Lanier Meritt, reading this poem I had a little chuckle. In my last school I found poetry quite boring and I was uninterested in learning poetry. Since I have come TLC, I am enjoying learning poetry and I never ever knew that poetry could make you laugh or that you could have fun writing a poem.
I have spoken to my friends all over the world and not many of them like poetry. When they say to me “Do you like poetry?” I say, “Yes I do!” My friends normally say “What, how can you enjoy poetry?” and I say “It is easy if you set your mind to doing it.” Since I have come to live in Cyprus, I have enjoyed the way the teacher has taught me, it is very different to my previous teachers. Now, in my eyes, poets can be nice down to earth people and you can have a proper conversation with them. Poets can teach you a lot, especially if you like poetry.
My friends are saying they like poetry now and all of them are saying “Thank you” to me for showing it to them.
Poetry is so important and eye opening, poetry can help you in the future. When I write, I feel like I have the power of writing about anything, and I hope every person out there feels the same way. I am not the best at poetry, but I will get there. I think people of today’s time need to put their mind together and study what the teachers say. My perspective on poetry has changed drastically, I love poetry now and I used to hate it so much.
Troy McRae Year 9
Writing Skills with Ms Ally
Writing to Persuade and Writing to Describe
Year 11 have been very busy this term in polishing their writing skills. In preparation for their IGCSE exam, students have been asked to build a portfolio of their written work to demonstrate their ability to write for a range of purposes and audiences. This half term, they have been writing to persuade and writing to describe a memory. It is always such a pleasure to read about student passions and the changes they wish to see in their world. It is equally enjoyable, if often emotional, to see students use their writing tasks to express emotions and experiences which are powerful and important for them.
Writing to Persuade
Why Killing Animals for Fur and Ornaments Should be Stopped?
Everyday animals around the world are being killed. Having their tusks or skin brutally poached from their face or body. Everyday, more and more species are nearing extinction due to their mass murder. Murder for ornaments and clothing for us to enjoy. This is wrong and should not be happening at all to the beautiful wildlife.
One of the main reasons for animal poaching is the selling of elephants’ tusks to the ivory trade. This is an illegal trade that also effects other animals, such as walrus, narwhal and Asian and African elephants. After trading for hundreds of years in Africa and Asia the elephants are soon bound to become extinct. Until then the African elephants are left to die after poachers brutally hack off their tusks by digging deep into their face.
On some occasions, the family of elephants are poached all at once, leaving them all faceless on the floor. This is absolutely horrific! To think that these beautiful creatures are being brutally murdered for us, humans, to have in our homes as decorative ornaments.
A study from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species says that 62% of all forest elephants have been murdered for ivory since 2002 with an estimated 32,000 of elephants killed since early 2012 alone. This needs to stop; we can’t let these people keep hunting our animals any longer, because if we do the African elephant might be gone forever.
I’m guessing most of you have heard about the fur trade or know about the fur trade, but did you know there is a worldwide industry in the sale of animal fur? More than 85% of fur sold today are from mink, foxes another animals, which have been locked up in cages, stacked on top of each other for their entire life, before being taken to be killed for their skin. Fighting for their lives, the animals screech and end up surviving off others in the cage or self-mutilating to help them cope with the emotions they have from been trapped in a cage. A study from PETA says that on numerous investigations of fur farms, across many fur-producing countries have documented atrocities, including animals with eye infections, sores on their feet from the filthy wire cages, missing limbs and festering, untreated open wounds, some so deep that their brain can be seen. Baby animals kept in cages with the rotting corpse of their mothers and animals who now have neurotic behavior as a result of psychological damage. This is unhuman behavior. Animals that survive being kept in the cages, then later on get chosen and taken to be killed for their skin and fur. In doing this the people either electrocute, poison or gas the animals for them to suffer in pain not knowing what is happening to them.
Killing animals for fur became illegal in the UK in 2000, but sadly this is still happening in Europe and the rest of the world. This is upsetting as we physically can’t be in those countries to stop these illegal killings happening to these innocent animals. What we can do is stop buying the products being sold with animal fur or animal fur trimmings; this will help by reducing the mass produced due to the amount being sold. Also, not buying the products helps to encourage others to do the same. If you see or know someone who is selling or buying animal fur products, you can go and explain and educate them about why it is wrong and that what they are doing is illegal. This will hopefully stop the sale of animal fur products and eventually we can save those innocent animals and set them free. By doing this together we can make a change…a change for good.
Megan Giles. Y11
The Dangers of Social Media
How many of you use social media? Almost all of you I would imagine. Social media has taken over the world in recent times and despite social media’s benefits, it does have several disadvantages as well.
Social media is everywhere today, the device in your pocket is an entirely new world to what people would have seen less than 100 years ago. Social media is so recent, that your older relatives likely find it impossible to fathom how you can text your friend half way across the world in just a few seconds. This development in technology is considered one of the greatest inventions the world has ever seen; despite this, social media can also be incredibley dangerous, especially to the younger generation.
Social media is the main source of entertainment for humans nowadays and many people are becoming addicted to it. I am a victim of this addiction. I find it hard to go more than an hour without checking my phone to make sure I haven’t received a message and I’m sure that this is the case with most of the world’s population today.
Even though social media makes life ten times easier; you have a source of entertainment in your back pocket wherever you go, you can talk to anyone and everyone at any time you want. It still has its bad qualities. Social media’s negative impact can be so severe, that in certain cases it is the cause of death. Now this may be a stretch as it is fairly unlikely, but these situations have occurred. For instance, cyberbullying is a common feature on social media. For those of you that don’t know, cyberbullying is a form of bullying as stated by its name, however, this form of bullying is via social media. Bullying through social media is far easier than in person, as it is harder for the victim to avoid. And in some cases the bullying can be so intense that it may cause a person to become depressed and then harm themselves.
Another one of social media’s bad qualities is creating a false image of what people should look like and how their lives should be. Kids that use social media are likely to see people with a completely different appearance to them, and be led to believe that they are unattractive because they do not have the same features that the person they see on social media has. I have been put in this situation, as well as millions of other people, and in a sense I still feel this way.
There are many ways of solving social media’s bad qualities; one of those is by reducing your use of social media. I believe this is a solution as it will prevent the likelihood of being bullied as you are less likely to see these messages, you are also less likely to be surrounded by so many people who create a false image of what you should look like. Another solution is to try and not become to addicted to your use of social media, as well as trying to take less notice of the people on social media.
If you try and attempt to solve a possible situation you are in, via the solutions I recommended, then this should hopefully leave you in a better state of mind and help you remain a happier person all in all.
You should all know that you are beautiful on the inside and out; you do not need someone on social media to determine how you see yourself. Also please refrain from becoming one of the problems social media has, try not to bully people and try not to plant a self-critical mind-set into the minds of the younger generation. After all, the younger generation is our earth’s future.
Matthew Borlase Year 11
I want a future
I want a future. I long for a day my future partner and I, along with our children, can wander into the countryside without worry, as we gain a new memory. Where our son first learnt to ride his bike, being able to smell the beautiful flowers, roses and freshly watered grass. In fact I dream of this day.
I feel as though we all dream of a future, whether it be with our family, or working in our favorite job or simply learning the things we’re passionate about. Although we tend to live our whole lives longing for these things; we do not deserve them.
Our planet could have given us our future, freedom, just like our ancestors. But we tore it apart. It offered us all it had and we burnt it out. If we’re lucky this damage could be reversible, but we need to start working now, if we don’t, well, I’m worried we will no longer be able to fix the damage we have done.
How can we save our planet? Reduce, reuse and recycle! Now, I know you’ve heard this thousands of times, yet have you ever stopped and listened. To listen and hear and feel the consequences of what we are feeding our planet? Our animals are crying, our plants are being in intoxicated, our land is being filled with chemicals which have serious negative effects. But on the bright side it doesn’t Affect us, right? We are not close to the mess we have created. Wrong. Our landfills are affecting our health; they are polluting our waters, our air, our climate. Even being near a landfill for any small amount of time can cause health problems. You’re probably thinking “if this was actually happening, the government would do something.” I study economics, and recently we were studying a chapter all about the environment and the governments’ role in its protection. Interesting right? Yes, some may argue the government are preventing landfills by putting up the landfill tax which in the UK is now £91.35, I have no idea what difference the 35 pence makes, but I’m sure it’s valid. That cost is per ton, and according to research, the UK deposits around 15.7 million tones into the earth, and this was just in 2016. So, they pay around 1.433567 billion in landfill tax. Although there are cheaper ways to dispose of our waste, our governments fail to recognize that and that’s a huge problem. The recycling companies actually are so much cheaper and it’s said if more people would start participating in recycling their waste, it would become cheaper over time. It is said we have only twenty years left until we run out of landfill space. Do you really want to walk outside and live near a landfill, do you want your kids walking to school while passing toxic landfills making them sick before they even get the chance to talk inside the halls? Is this the life we want to leave our kids with? Our families? Our legacies? Our planet?
Landfill is not the only serious issue we have to overcome when it comes to our planet. Our trees are suffocating, and soon, if we continue to allow this to happen, we will be too. Our trees provide us with oxygen, without it we can’t survive. The forests are either being cut down, burned or simply suffering due to climate change. When I say the Amazon rainforest, most of you will know what I’m talking about. It is one of the biggest forests in the world, it covers around 5.5 billion Km and unfortunately, it generates about 20% of the world’s oxygen. I say unfortunately, because this same forest is being slaughtered. Deforestation, trees being cut down to gain economic growth and make unnecessary room for farmers and homes.
We have currently lost around 30% of the Amazon. Now the trees won’t be able to hold the needed moisture for the animals who live there. You may be questioning why these animals are so precious? In the Amazon there are, estimated by science, 50 million different species that live in the forest. Four separate ecosystems. We need those ecosystems to help our planet. Since 2003 we have tried to protect the rainforest and that worked until 2019, when there was said to be upwards of 40,000 fires. Although the Amazon often goes through a dry season, this time it caused a national concern. It was said we lost around 9,060 km2. I remember sitting at home and watching this happen all over the news and feeling completely hopeless and useless because there was nothing that I felt I could do. Soon however, I learnt that there was plenty I could do to save the trees, not just in the Amazon but everywhere. It could be as simple as planting a tree or not using as much paper or maybe even cut down meat consumption. All these could help massively in saving forests, and I really do believe we can do this and overcome what we’ve destroyed by rebuilding it
I would of never known these things if I didn’t learn them, and I’ll admit I was not always the way I am now, I didn’t used to care, until I saw the effects of our behavior and I was left horrified. We can’t do this by ourselves, we need to come together to solve this issue and give the next generation a chance to live, to experience, to feel. If there is anything I wish you would take from my speech today, it is this question, ‘Is this the life you want for your kids? Is this the planet you want to leave them behind?’ All I know is, I want a beautiful future and if we change our ways, we can deserve it.
Tegan Potter Year 11
Writing to describe a memory
A Perfect Morning
Pitch black. Darkness. The sound of the breaking waves is delightful. This sound is my only clue, of where I am heading. I cannot see where the ocean starts. Its five twenty in the morning. The cold air creepily burns those parts of my skin, which are not covered by my wetsuit. As I slowly approach the part of the beach where I usually enter the ocean, I notice that the coal dark sky is starting to show some light blue texture, and the stars are beginning to dissolve. Sprinting into the ocean I put my surfboard under my chest and land in the water. I can feel the scent of the salty water burning its way through my nostrils.
As I am paddling through the darkness, I can spot the vigorous splashes of a broken wave, only a few feet in front of me. “Oh I hate going out surfing so early in the morning, I can’t see a thing!” I mumble to my irritated self. As I am making my way over the tenth broken wave, small droplets of salty ocean water splash into my face.
Splash. Splash. And another Splash. The salt quickly dries out, right on my face, making me want to scratch my skin off.
Finally, reaching the back of the lineup, I take a deep breath to recover and get ready to catch my first wave. Since I’m out so early, there is no one in the water. Me and my friend are the only ones out in the ocean, like two lonely birds on an electric line. Not even ten seconds pass by, and I spot the perfect wave coming my way. An impeccable, glassy, non-broken, two and a half meter wave is slowly approaching me. Excellent shape, ideal size, superb state, everything about this moment is perfect. For a few seconds it seems as if time has completely stopped. I’m in a state of disbelief. Its enormous height is overwhelming. Almost as if a gargantuan bus is about to run me over. I feel paralyzed. The feeling of being immersed by the lively nature of the ocean engulfs my entire body. Lying down on my stomach makes the wave seem even bigger. I can no longer feel that my hands are freezing, that my body is aching, and that the irritated skin on my neck is bursting into flames. It feels as if my soul is leaving my body, leaving all my physical discomfort and pain on Earth, and peacefully floating through space and time into another dimension.
As time starts running again, the realization hits me. I quickly turn my surfboard around and start to eagerly paddle in the direction that the wave is headed, in order not to miss it. This is my moment; I can’t miss this incredible opportunity! I close my eyes and put all my focus into exerting as much force as possible. My arms start to burn, my breathing becomes heavier, sweat builds up on my arid and salty forehead as I hungrily paddle for the wave of my dreams.
Silence. Just as I open my eyes, I see I am surfing the best wave of my life, gliding on top of the water, like a sled on top of slippery ice. The greatest feeling of accomplishment I have yet to experience.
I lift up my head and realize, the first leak of light has jumped over the mountain. The sunlight is now shining through the water, and lighting up the reef as colourful as a rainbow. I cannot believe that such a vibrant and beautiful ocean floor is right beneath me. Time has stopped again. I feel such inner peace and unity with nature, almost as if I’m one with it. As I am slowly surfing down the wave I can feel how smoothly and calmly the ocean is gliding beneath my feet. The blue-green textured wave is right there, so elegant, so fascinating, like liquid glass, I cannot take my eyes off of it. It’s like Jell-O, soft unadulterated Jell-O. I reach and drive my hand through the pure water while riding the wave. I feel the powerful and fluent quality of the ocean enter into my hand, and up, filling up my whole body with this indescribable feeling of tranquility on this perfect morning.
Sergey Tsypsyn Year 11
The Last Time
Walking through the white door, stepping out into an empty room, I stood with warm tears streaming down my face. Shaking with sadness, I waited for them. That was it, my last time touching her soft fur. My heart breaking as I looked into her empty eyes knowing she had no idea what was going to happen. I just wanted to pick her up and take her home, but she was in pain. My body began to fill with anger and sadness. I didn’t know what to do or what to think about. I had this sort of turning motion in my stomach. Walking up and down the corridor with the bright light from the wide windows glaring into my eyes, the memories of her over the years flowed through my brain all at once. I still couldn’t believe this was happening. I had grown up with her, it was always her and me every day. And now I wasn’t there holding her, as she fell asleep. I felt useless.
It felt like twenty minutes, but it was probably much less that that until my parents came out the room holding her in the brown cardboard box they had put her in. I couldn’t even look at it. It would make me too upset knowing she was lying there lifeless. I was furious that this had happened and was trying to ignore everything around me. I walked out of the vets and slammed the car door as I stepped in. After being in the car for a while, I started to relax, it felt as if it was a safe place, isolated from the outside world. It was a block from reality. Looking out the window, watching the trees and cars pass in slow motion, like something you would see in a movie.
My life suddenly felt so empty, that piece of me was gone.
Megan Giles Year 11